Privacy Statement

In this Privacy Statement, we have provided information about data collected and used when you:

Purchase a Volkswagen vehicle or otherwise interact with Volkswagen and our Digital Properties, vehicles, products and services

Receive Car-Net® Services (defined below).  

If you are the vehicle owner, you must notify any additional drivers about the privacy practices described in this Statement and if you are the Primary Driver for this vehicle’s Car-Net Services, you must notify any additional drivers of the vehicle about the Car-Net specific privacy practices described herein.

Privacy Statement
Effective Date:  January 1, 2023

At Volkswagen of America, an operating division of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., (“VW,” “we,” or “us”), we value your privacy and want you to know how your information will be handled and used.  This Privacy Statement applies to information we obtain from and about individuals interacting with VW websites, mobile applications, and other online services (collectively, our “Digital Properties”); VW vehicles, products and services; hardware and software in your VW vehicle that enables you to receive the personal assistance and telematics-based services provided through VW Car-Net (the “Car-Net Services”); and through other online and offline interactions with VW. However, this Statement does not apply to business contacts or VW job applicants or employees. The privacy statement for VW business contacts and job applicants can be found hereOpens an external link.

This Statement does not apply to VW Credit, Inc. (“VCI”) or its products, contracts, and related services. VCI has its own privacy statement, which can be found hereOpens an external link.

Below we provide a summary of the general information we collect, how we use it, and to whom it is disclosed. 

 

1. From What Sources Do We Collect Information?

As you interact with VW and its Digital Properties, vehicles, products and services, we may collect certain information from or about you or your vehicle from the following sources:

  1. Directly from you, such as when you visit or use VW Digital Properties; use third-party digital properties (including social media sites and sweepstakes microsites); during other interactions such as product and related events, test drives, surveys, and promotion entries; and when you interact with our customer call centers.
  2. Cookies and online technologies, such as when you access or use VW Digital Properties, third-party digital properties (including social media sites and sweepstakes microsites), or VW mobile applications.
  3. Authorized VW Dealers, such as through leasing, service and other records provided to us by Authorized VW Dealers. 
  4. VW-authorized sellers of consumer merchandise.
  5. Our affiliates, including VCI (if you finance your VW vehicle purchase or purchase products from VCI) and other companies within the Volkswagen Group family of companies.
  6. Third party service providers, Integrated Content Providers and Optional Third Parties (defined in Sections 4.7 and 4.8 below).
  7. Other third parties, such as companies that provide or sell lists of potential vehicle purchasers and current owners, data brokers, business partners, public sources, social media platforms and networks, or other parties that interact with us. 
We may combine information that we receive from the various sources described in this Privacy Statement, including third-party sources, and use or disclose it for the purposes identified below.

 

2. What Information Do We Collect?

As you interact with VW and its products and services, we collect different types of information from you based on the interaction, such as when you purchase a vehicle and subscribe to Car-Net services.
The types of information that VW collects about you include:

  1. Identifiers, characteristics and other information you provide, including contact information; authentication information you create (such as a Volkswagen ID, date of birth, or other information to verify your identity); your preferences, photographs, user-generated content, and other materials that you may submit; demographic information; account and billing information, including financial data used for payment purposes; and profile information and settings (such as your preferences or information about personalized services).
  2. Commercial information regarding vehicle purchase/lease/service, including contact information (such as name, address, telephone number, email); vehicle purchase, lease or service information (such as VIN, make, model, year, dealer, date of purchase or lease, purchase/lease price, vehicle equipment, and service history); and other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies. 
  3. Vehicle usage information, such as vehicle data transmitted from your vehicle or collected or inferred from your use of the vehicle or services, including general vehicle status data (such as warning lights, upcoming service schedule, fuel level, battery level, and tire pressure); service history and fault or trouble codes; ambient data (such as outside temperature and brightness); vehicle performance data and other data about your vehicle, including its identification, condition, equipment status, or collision information; vehicle/technology usage data (such as usage of lock/unlock and remote start technology); driver behavior data (such as vehicle speed, seat belt use, and information about braking habits); information that you provide when using Car-Net Services, including information you send and information you request; and information about your interactions with us, our affiliates, our service providers, Integrated Content Providers, and Optional Third Parties related to your vehicle usage.
  4. Internet and electronic activity information, such as data gathered by tracking technologies when you visit our Digital Properties (as further described in Section 5 below) and information about your use of Car-Net Services, the Car-Net mobile application, and the Car-Net website.  
  5. Geolocation data.
  6. Audio, electronic, visual, or similar information, such as call recording for emergency and customer service and voice command data (including any personal data included therein) and the transcripts of conversations you engage in with us via webchat, messaging apps, or social media.
  7. Inferences drawn from any of the information we collect to create a profile about you reflecting your preferences, characteristics, demographics and vehicle usage patterns. 
If your vehicle is equipped with an Event Data Recorder (“EDR”), crash or near-crash information about the vehicle or driver’s behavior will be recorded in the vehicle. EDR data are recorded by your vehicle only if a non-trivial crash situation occurs, not under normal driving conditions. For information about your vehicle’s EDR data or other crash or near-crash information collected and how we might receive and use it, please see your owner’s manual.

3. How Do We Use Your Information?

We collect and use your information for a number of business purposes, such as:

  1. To provide you with products and services, such as to provide products and services you request; support your vehicle, products, and services; diagnose, repair, and track service and quality issues; communicate with you about your vehicle, products, or services; install and configure changes and updates to your services; authenticate users of our products and services; verify your eligibility for certain programs or benefits; or to provide you with Car-Net Services. 
  2. For our own internal business purposes, such as to evaluate the usage, performance, and safety of our vehicles, products, and services; improve the quality of our vehicles, products, and services and design new products and services; operate our Digital Properties and customize the content; or to maintain internal records.
  3. For legal, safety or security reasons, such as to comply with legal requirements; protect the safety, property, or rights of VW and the Volkswagen Group family of companies (such as VCI’s right to repossess its vehicles, including by using GPS data) and those of owners, registered users, drivers, passengers or others; or to prevent and detect fraud or misuse of the vehicles, products, or services.
  4. For marketing, such as marketing our products or services or those of our affiliates, business partners, or other third parties. However, please note that we will not use or disclose precise GPS location data or your driver behavior data for our own marketing purposes or for the marketing purposes of unaffiliated third parties without your affirmative consent.
  5. In a de-identified or aggregated format, we may also use or disclose your information in a de-identified or aggregate manner for any purpose.

We also provide your information to third parties who use it for the commercial purpose of marketing their products and services to you.

Please note that for MY19 and older vehicles, we will only use GPS location for purposes of providing Car Net Services to subscribers, complying with legal process, or as otherwise required by law. 

If you choose to create a Volkswagen ID, you may be able to use it to sign into other Volkswagen Digital Properties and services, instead of registering with each service. If you do this, the services will be linked to your central Volkswagen ID user account. If you access a Volkswagen service using your Volkswagen ID, the information already stored in association with your central Volkswagen ID user account (including personal information) will be linked and used in accordance with the Privacy Statement and Terms of Service for that particular service. You have the option of creating a separate Volkswagen ID user account to sign into each Volkswagen service that you use if you prefer not to have this information disclosed between services.

4. With Whom Do We Share Your Information?

We may disclose your information:

  1. Within the Volkswagen Group family of companies. We may disclose your information to Volkswagen Group parents, corporate affiliates, subsidiaries, business units, and other companies that share common ownership (including Volkswagen AG, which is located outside of the United States, and VCI).
  2. To third-party service providers. We may disclose your information to service providers that work on behalf of VW, such as advertising agencies, third parties that assist us with marketing efforts, emergency responders, IT providers, and call center service providers.
  3. To VW Dealers. We may disclose your information to VW dealers for sales, leasing, and customer service purposes, such as responding to quote requests; for vehicle diagnosis, maintenance, and repair; to schedule service appointments; and to contact you and provide your requested services.
  4. To others for legal, security or safety purposes. We may disclose your information to third parties, law enforcement, or other government agencies to comply with law or legal requirements; to enforce or apply our Terms of Service and other agreements or those of the Volkswagen Group family of companies; and to protect our rights and the property or safety of our users or third parties. We also may disclose information about you and your vehicle when we have reason to believe that someone is causing injury to or interference with the rights or property of VW, other users of the Digital Properties, or anyone else that could be harmed by such activities.
  5. To other companies in connection with a VW corporate transaction. We may disclose your information if some or all of our assets are acquired by another company, including through a sale in connection with bankruptcy, in which case we will disclose the information we hold to that company.
  6. To third parties for their own marketing purposes. We may disclose your contact information and vehicle identification data to third parties for their own marketing purposes, such as Sirius XM, VW Dealers, and select companies with whom we may partner to offer you products or services. 
  7. To Integrated Content Providers. We may disclose your information via the Car-Net® Services to various third parties with whom we contract and to whom you directed us to disclose personal information to provide products and services through VW vehicles (“Integrated Content Providers”) whose services are integral to the Car-Net Services, and without which many of the Car-Net Services would not work.  VW does not create or control the content offered by these Integrated Content Providers, nor does VW determine how they handle your personal information for purposes of providing their services.  The Integrated Content Providers are exclusively responsible for the content and the availability of the content accessible through the Car-Net Services. Integrated Content Providers have the right to use your data for their own purposes and therefore, services from Integrated Content Providers will be subject to their Terms of Service and Privacy Statement. If you have any concerns regarding the collection, use, or disclosure of your personal information by Integrated Content Providers or wish